A Night in the Crib

This is gangsta-Tommy, or Tommy Gun, getting ready for a night in the crib.

This is how we usually find Tommy in the morning. We swaddle him up in the "Miracle Blanket," or the baby straight jacket, but lately he is getting so big that he wiggles his legs right out of it. This was a pretty clean escape, I must admit.

"Take Your Baby to Work Day"

Having a baby is the best. He gets more and more fun as the days go by. He is smiling more and more all the time. I get the most smiles when I play with Tommy on the changing table. Ben gets lots of unprovoked smiles when Tommy is eating or just hanging out. We have also learned recently that the secret to getting Tommy to relax enough to fall asleep is rubbing his head. Sometimes we pet it like we are petting a puppy and sometimes we rub it like you would a crystal ball. Either way, it calms the little guy down and makes him fall asleep within minutes. Who knew?

One More Videro

Grandma and Grandpa Chatterton brought one of Rachel's former favorite toys, some Fisher-Price cow dealie. Tommy loves it.

An Oldie But a Goodie

This is a video we've been meaning to post, but blogger didn't love us.

Giant Baby Smash!

The official word on the street is that Tommy is now 8 weeks old and huge. At the appointment with the doctor this morning he weighed in at 16 pounds 4 ounces and measured 25 inches long, putting him way off the charts for his age. He's definitely one of a kind! He is learning lots of things lately, like how to smile and how to use his vocal cords. He can see things a lot further away now than he used to, so he's always looking around and studying the world around him. He gets so distracted by his surroundings while he is eating that we have started putting a blanket over his head so that he can focus and eat well for a few minutes. Tommy is very bright and very curious. He can reach for toys now, as you can see in the video below. It is so fun to watch him learn and grow. Sometimes we have little conversations with him. He's a great baby and we love him so much.

Videos of the kiddo

Here are some of our favorite videos of Tommy, the center of our universe. This first one is Ben waking Tommy up in the morning (he's a morning baby). He's always really happy to get out of his swaddle and stretch. The next one is Tommy smiling with Grandma a couple of weeks ago. He smiles often now.

Nicknames

This is a list of names we affectionately call our son:

Lizard Baby
Head on a Stick
Tom Tom
Tommy Boy
Little Guy
Big Guy
Bud
Buddy
Sweetheart
Giant Baby
Megababy
Milk Face
Milk Head
Dinosaur (and "Dinosaur Pal")
Little Man
Boy Boy
Monson
Baby Guy
Tomstar Runner
"The Nuclear Football"
[adjective] Bear, as in "Angry Bear", "Poopy Bear", etc

Rollin' Right Along

We had family in town for a good part of July. Tommy was blessed in Sacrament Meeting on July 12 and here are some pictures after the blessing. Adam and Laurie Stradling came from Show Low, the Wards came from Salt Lake, and the Chattertons came from Denver. It was an awesome weekend with everyone here even though it was very hot!